Tuesday, August 12, 2008

2 Not so Obvious

Tuesday we re-created our quest at the Iowa State Fair...with one small alteration. Monday, we asked Barack Obama's supporters who should be his running mate. Hillary Clinton probably received the most responses. However, Clinton also received the most "no, not her" responses. Tuesday, we wanted to know from John McCain's supporters who he should pick. There was no Hillary Clinton equivalent. Huckabee, Rice and Romney were probably the most frequently mentioned names.

Obama picked up a cross-over supporter today, too. Former Iowa Congressman (and Republican) Jim Leach endorsed him. Leach is definitely considered a moderate, so, perhaps, this isn't considered a monstrous surprise. But it's hardly common for cross-over support like this. McCain's campaign didn't ignore the endorsement, far from it. They trashed McCain's former fellow member of Congress. Here's what the McCain campaign sent out:

"It’s rather ironic that someone like Jim Leach, a person who placed such a strong focus on campaign finance issues, would be endorsing the first presidential candidate since Watergate to skirt the public financing program in the general election. Despite Obama’s lofty speeches on change, Iowans know that real change comes from working across the aisle to get things done. A single endorsement does not hide the fact that Senator Obama has no record of achievement beyond the confines of his party. While John McCain has spent his career putting the country first - ahead of personal and party interests - Senator Obama's record is a lesson in partisanship.”Wendy Riemann McCain Spokesperson, Iowa

Leach Co-Authored The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Which Obama Blames For The Subprime Lending Crisis:Leach Was The Co-Author Of The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Which Repealed The Glass-Steagall Act And Allowed Competition Between Commercial And Investment Banks And Insurance Companies. (S. 900, Signed 11/12/99)Obama Has Attacked The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act As A Lobbyist-Driven Deregulation That Led To The Subprime Lending Crisis. Obama: “By the time the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework. … The regulatory environment failed to keep pace. When subprime mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators were unable or unwilling to protect the American people.” (Cheyenne Hopkins, “Regulatory Revamp Newest Plank In Obama's Platform,” American Banker, 3/28/08)